Unfounded Fears
by Consort
Summary: Oneshot. In commemoration of the upcoming BW rework, and her own fears about such things.


They say that every dog has it's day. The day when it gets the chance to do the trick, to fetch the stick and be the demigod that makes four teammates rejoice and five enemies curse.

It started when some force, somewhere, started to tinker with reality. A 'what-if' there, a sense of purpose here... and then a sprinkle of skill and strength.

And then they wrote a letter. How exactly the letters reached the Nexus was a mystery- some claimed that they were e-mailed from untraceable accounts, or postmen would occasionally find an extra envelope in their bag, or in one case, a thousand-piece jigsaw was given to the recipient by a mysterious charity shop.

This letter was written on parchment, sealed with wax, and one nervous postman pulled the short straw and was selected to deliver it.

So he walked down a winding trail to the forest, wishing he'd maybe gone to enlist the help of a hero he knew would be sympathetic, like Tracer or one of those knights from worlds he didn't know.

Three steps into the woods, he felt cornered. Sunlight filtered down through the leaves in thin rays, as flora around him stood untouched.

"Found you!"

The man made a loud alarmed honk, to his embarassment, and turned to run.

 _Something_ dropped down from the trees, and landed on his shoulders, knocking him down. He saw yellow eyes staring into his at point-blank, felt a few small grazes on his shoulders, and came to the abrupt conclusion he was completely screwed. So he fainted.

Brightwing was disappointed for two seconds when she realised she hadn't in fact managed to win at tag with Nova, but in her defence all these humans looked the same to her. Now, important question- was it snack time?

After one second of soul-searching the answer turned out to be yes, and she licked her lips, ready to bite at that soft, squishy neck and- wait, shiny!

Free meal momentarily forgotten, she looked at the scroll the mailman had dropped onto the floor, the wax a deep, sparkling blue. And there was a name on the outside.

Brightwing struggled to remember what little she knew of reading Human Squiggleys. Hehe, that 'W' looked like a kitty mouth. But she came to the conclusion that no, she couldn't read. But that guy could!

* * *

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey."

The postman's eyes fluttered open.

"Hey. Hey. He- ooh, you are awake! Read this!" Brightwing dipped into the postman's field of vision and held the scroll against his face.

"Uh... Whut..." The postman actually woke up completely, and realised it was now the evening, and he had a hero with an unpredictable reputation slightly too close for comfort. "It says 'Brightwing'. If y-y-you know them, could you deliver it t-to?"

Brightwing gleefully peeled off the seal, claws tearing the paper. "Read letter, mister man! Read! Read!"

The mailman swallowed, and took the parchment. "To the hero Brightwing: Faerie Dragon, we, Blizzard Entertainment, are pleased to say that your abilities are soon to be reworked. Look forwards to-"

"Nope!" She yelped. "No nope! Rework bad!"

The postman only watched as the previously overaffectionate lizard seemed to vanish into thin air.

Brightwing had, in fact, vanished into thin air. Her body was currently immaterial, broken down to it's base particles and then taken from the primary layer of her local multiverse as pure energy, held together only by the conviction that she was going to hold together. Everyone knows people don't just fall apart.

Okay, where to appear and deal with her stresses and fears? The answer: anywhere but here.

Which is why a highly-stressed reptile materialised in the gardens of Hanamura.

"No rework, don't like, no like..." She muttered, crawling under a tree. Some pink petals fell, dropping onto the ground, and she didn't even try to snatch them out of the air. If that doesn't tell you the severity of the problem, what can?

And there she stayed for about half an hour, until the initial bout of panic had passed. Then she was left with a swirling miasma of uncertainty. Her own experiences aside, she had seen the power of reworks. Rehgar had become so powerful he regularly destroyed full teams alone before the initial strength faded. Uther had been able to stop spells that were strong enough to break her defences.

But Valla had lost her adaptability. Valeera was... far less stabby.

"O dragon, why are you so distraught?"

The voice caught her off guard. Human, but not human. A voice that wasn't that of the body that used it, but no magic was involved. She scarpered behind the tree.

Genji sat down, cross-legged. "I do not mean to alarm. You are welcome, so long as you do not damage the gardens. My brother puts much effort into their maintenance."

Brightwing quivered behind the tree, curiosity quickly building. "N-not scared of you, metal friend. Just... bad letter. Bad news."

"Ah. If there is a problem, then why not tell me?" Said Genji neutrally.

"I got a letter... says about rework. Scared."

"I see. I have not experienced a rework yet. Though it does seem that with each passing month, my abilities grow weaker." Genji sat perfectly still. His words were true, he was sure of it.

"What do?"

Genji looked down a little. "I would advise that you make peace with it. You know, there is somebody that I believe can say that better than me. Go and see him."

"Who?"

Genji seemed to lighten up a little, and then imitated a more gravelly voice. "Change Is Survival. Grr."

"Ha." The laugh was half-hearted and nervous, but a laugh. "Okay. Bye now. Bye. Bye bye."

And she warped.

* * *

Dehaka felt the incoming warp. A slight disturbance in the air, to his left. Protoss warp? Not likely, they had better targets and stealthier tactics. Terrans? No. And besides, only one hero was bold enough to warp directly to him.

"You should be careful how you teleport. Other zerg would tear you apart."

Brightwing flew out from nothingness, becoming a solid form on his shoulder. "Dehaka. Hello big friend. Hello."

She was shaking. Her voice was off-key. She was clinging to him, instead of fluttering around. "You are... scared. How."

"Got letter. Bad letter. Bad." She whispered.

Dehaka looked around for danger, before slipping into the brush, long grass seeming to bend to his will and hide them from sight. "You must think it is serious, to come to one as dangerous as me."

"You are not dangerous. Don't fool me." Brightwing said instantly, before giving it a few seconds' thought. "Dangerous if you could catch me. Can't catch me, though."

"What is the problem."

"Getting reworked! Was terrible!"

Dehaka paused for a few seconds. "You are fortunate."

Brightwing stopped.

"Change is rare, in this place." Said Dehaka. "It is something I strive for, and cannot attain. Regardless of the essence consumed, the intent to which I evolve, in the Nexus, change is outside any control. It is slow to arrive, and comes without reason. But make no mistake. Change will renew you."

"Didn't. Last time was bad, lost lots of power."

"..." Dehaka thought back. "Perhaps the first change you felt did impact you poorly. But I saw the second change you underwent. Do you remember it?"

"I... Umm..."

"You gained a greater variety of powers than ever before, with the later changes. While you must learn from the changes that fail you, you must not let them stop you changing. Embrace this change. Adapt to it, and become stronger."

"But it is scary." Brightwing seemed to relax her grip a little.

"And I am not?"

"..."

"I am change itself. The one most confined by the Nexus. If you truly fear change, then my presence should not comfort you." Dehaka felt Brightwing finally seem to calm down. "The change will be good if you are willing to embrace it."

"I... should hug the change?"

"Accept it, use it, and fight as hard as you can. As we do." Dehaka looked around. "...You should go. Relax much more and I'd be able to catch you."

"You can't catch me, silly. Thank. I'll try and do the change."

And she disappeared.

* * *

The mailman was promptly knocked off his chair when Brightwing appeared. "Friend, what was in letter? Brightwing ready to hear it now!"

The mailman sputtered coffee across his desk, and hurriedly pulled out the scroll. "Alright! Okay! Just don't eat me!" He opened the scroll, and started reading. "To the hero Brightwing: Faerie Dragon, we at...

 **A/N: Just fluff. Wanted to commemorate the rework by drawing BW with the Infinity Gauntlet saying that fun is absolutely something one considers while balancing the universe, but I can't draw. Or photoshop.**

 **Now you guys all listen to Dehaka's wisdom, and kick some butts with the rework. See you!**


End file.
